Plans to cut staff numbers in half at NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care were revealed yesterday amidst extreme cost-cutting steps.
The 'bonfire of bureaucrats' is focused on removing duplication across the organisations after their labor forces swelled during the pandemic.
Health secretary Wes Streeting is likewise seeking to tighten his control over the NHS, deliver better value for taxpayers and free-up money for the frontline.
Three more NHS England board members yesterday revealed they will give up at the end of this month, following the recent resignations of president Amanda Pritchard and nationwide medical director Professor Sir Stephen Powis.
The most recent leaders to sign up with the exodus are Julian Kelly, the chief financial officer, Emily Lawson, the chief running officer, and Steve Russell, the chief delivery officer and national director for vaccination and screening.
NHS England is the national quango tasked with supervising the daily running of the health service and its long-lasting strategy.
It was developed by the Tories in 2013 to give it greater political independence but Mr Streeting is keen to gain back tighter control from within his Department.
NHS England said in a statement: 'As part of the requirement to make finest possible usage of taxpayers' cash to support frontline services, the size of NHS England will be significantly reduced and might see the size of the centre decline by around half.'
The much deeper staffing cuts follow a reduction of about 4,000 to 6,000 staff members at NHS England over the past two years and about 800 at the Department of Health and Social Care.
Health secretary Wes Streeting is also looking for to tighten his control over the NHS, amid plans to cut personnel numbers in half at NHS England and the Department of Health
Former NHS England chief Amanda will step down from her position at the end of this month
NHS England chief delivery officer Steve Russell (left) and chief operating officer Emily Lawson (ideal) are amongst the current managers to join the exodus
Sir Jim Mackey, who will end up being interim primary executive at the start of April, will establish a transition group within NHS England to 'lead the radical reduction and improving of the centre with the Department of Health and Social Care'.
He said: 'We understand that today's news is upsetting for our staff, and we have considerable difficulties and modifications ahead.'We intend to have a shift group in place to begin on the 1st April 2025 to assist lead us through this period.'
Ms Pritchard stated in a note to staff, seen by the Health Service Journal: 'In the last number of weeks, I have said I think the time is ideal for radical reform of the size and functions of the centre to finest support local NHS systems and suppliers to provide for clients and drive the government's reform top priorities.'
She stated Mr Streeting had actually asked Sir Jim and Penny Dash, the inbound NHS England chair, to 'lead this work, delivering significant changes in our relationship with DHSC to eliminate duplication'.
Mr Streeting stated: 'I want to put on record my thanks to Julian, Emily and Steve for their commitment as public servants, and their work in specific assisting steer the NHS through the pandemic.
'I have actually delighted in dealing with each of them over the last 8 months and I have actually been impressed by their skill and focus on providing improvement for patients and staff.
'We are going into a duration of important change for our NHS. 'With a stronger relationship between the Department for Health and Social Care and NHS England, we will collaborate with the speed and seriousness needed to satisfy the scale of the challenge.'
As of June last year, NHS England utilized just under 15,000 full-time comparable staff, consisting of long-term, momentary and consultancy. The Department of Health and Social Care had around 9,000, including the UK Health Security Agency. These are both around 30 per cent more than in January 2020.
NHS England chief financial officer Julian Kelly has actually also included his name to leaders resigning from their positions
Professor Stephen Powis, the NHS national medical director, revealed last week he would step down this summertime
UNISON head of health Helga Pile said: 'Staff will be naturally worried about this unexpected modification of instructions.
'The number of redundancies being sought at NHS England has actually trebled in just a matter of weeks.
'Em ployees there have already been through the mill with unlimited rounds of reorganisation. What was already a demanding possibility has now become more like a headache.
'Fixing a broken NHS requires a correct plan, with main bodies resourced and managed successfully so local services are supported.
'Rushing through cuts brings a threat of creating an even more, more complicated mess and could ultimately hold the NHS back. That would pull down the very people who need it most, the patients.'
Matthew Taylor, primary executive of the NHS Confederation, stated: 'These modifications are occurring at a scale and rate not anticipated to begin with, but offered the huge cost savings that the NHS needs to make this year it makes sense to decrease locations of duplication at a nationwide level and for the NHS to be led by a leaner centre.
'NHS England has currently provided considerable savings and helped to deliver improvements in performance, but national bodies and local NHS leaders know that more is required this year.
'These modifications represent the biggest reshaping of the NHS's nationwide architecture in more than a years. It is necessary that regional NHS organisations and other bodies are associated with this improvement as the immediate next steps become clearer, so that an optimal operating model can be created.
'This should have to do with doing things differently for the benefit of local communities as both patients and taxpayers, as well as for staff ahead of annual survey results on Thursday that are yet once again anticipated to reveal the extreme challenges they deal with.'
Wes Streeting
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Wes Streeting Cuts NHS HQ Staff Numbers In Half
claudeswanston edited this page 2025-03-14 12:31:01 +08:00